1. Field of the Invention
The RESPIRATORY BREATHING FILTER APPARATUS relates to filter devices worn in the mouth and provides versatile filtering capabilities due to the removal and/or addition of the component parts.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Speshyock teaches a breathing device received within the mouth of the user which filters and enhances inhaled air by the addition of medicament. Note the shield (32), and that the mouth is kept open (FIG. 1). Montgomery teaches that a respiratory filter can be worn on a chain around a user's neck when not needed (FIG. 5). Jacobs et al., Langone, Nelson, and Hanlon all teach filters that are received within a user's mouth. Brown teaches a valved inhalation filter. Smith, Bye, Carofiglio, and Fouquier all teach respiratory filters with medicament inhaling means. The remaining references are all directed to mouth- or nose-inserted respiratory filters.
Respiratory breathing filters have taken several forms, varying from gas masks with sophisticated filtering techniques used by military and para-military personnel to filtering and breathing apparatus used by persons involved with occupations and activities in which harmful or contaminated gas or vapors were present, such as fumigation and painting occupations. The filtering devices used vary from a gauze or similar porous material to carbon or charcoal filtering to more sophisticated filtering, such as with nerve gases used in warfare. In each instance mentioned, the user's respiratory health condition was of average or good condition. The present Respiratory Breathing Filter Apparatus aids the individual as a preventative measure against the suffering of asthma attacks, emphysema and respiratory diseases related to allergies or polluted air. Respiratory disease is ranked the number six leading cause of death in the United States. With increased pollution and airborne allergens, respiratory ailments are ever increasing. From 1979 to 1987, the number of deaths from asthma nearly doubled. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute determined that the reasons for the increased number of incidents of respiratory ailments are due to the lack of immediate access to a doctor or hospital for care, lack of education, and undertreatment.
It is a well-known fact that allergies will trigger asthma. And in most cases the treatment involves the use of inhalers with corticosteroid sprays which reverses bronchial inflammation. Another drug used to prevent inflammation is "INTAL," cromolyn sodium. Other forms are bronchodilators, which can be in tablet form or used in inhalers or "nebulizers," which is a home aerosol machine to deliver higher doses of bronchodilator. With all this chemical inducement of various medication, the best-known remedy is home preventive therapy, doctors say. In the July 1, 1990, issue of the Journal of Pediatrics, Dr. Warren Richards concluded that many asthmatic children seen in the Children's Hospital emergency room (Los Angeles) are there because their asthma therapy was inadequate or nonexistent. This indicates a more active role or home therapy must be implemented. Dr. Albert Sheffer, clinical professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and head of a federal panel advising doctors on how to treat asthma, said, "It's not whether you're an allergist or a pulmonary doctor. It's whether you take care of asthma. So it doesn't make any difference what the specialty is." Once again there is an emphasis on the care and prevention of asthma. There are an estimated 9.7 million asthmatics in the United States, and 3 million of them are under 18 years of age. From 1970 to 1985 the incidence of asthma increased 22 percent among Blacks. Males are twice as likely to be hospitalized for asthma as females. Asthma is a growing problem and requires a controlled or preventive solution. This invention of the Respiratory Breathing Filter Apparatus addresses itself to the problem of respiratory diseases as a preventive measure against asthma and respiratory inflammation brought on by airborne particles. At present, there are no known inventions related to respiratory breathing filters for the prevention of respiratory problems.